Seventy-Two Projects, $600 Million, and 15 Years—Now What?

The City of Omaha entered into a Consent Decree with the State of Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) to reduce the volume of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) from their combined sewer system (CSS) to receiving streams by October 1, 2024. In response to the Consent Decree, the City of Omaha, in conjunction with the Program Management Team (PMT) comprised of CH2M Hill, HDR Engineering, and Lamp Rynearson Associates, developed the City of Omaha CSO Program Long Term Control Plan (LTCP). The purpose of the CSO Program is to reduce CSOs from the CSS. Sewer Separation is one component included in the CSO Program. This paper will provide an understanding of the City of Omaha CSO Program, including an overview of the $1.66 Billion Program that includes 72 sewer separation projects, and 15 Major Projects consisting of lift stations, force mains, wastewater treatment plant improvements, high rate treatment plants, system storage, and conveyance tunnels that are to be completed over a 15 year timetable. The specifics of the paper will focus on the sewer separation planning aspects of the Program in order to provide design consistency and project delivery. These planning efforts included the development of protocols, procedures, guidance, and standards documents. These documents provide guidance and direction to Project Teams in completing sewer separation design activities.